A Second Chance

by Br1ght Ey3s

Rae had never believed in fate or destiny. Her father had once said stories were shaped by choice, that she had the power to carve out her own path. So when a yautja enters the picture, she's faced with a very difficult decision. She must choose between two paths, two worlds, and two lives. But which would she choose? (Yautja x OC; POV Third Person Omniscient)

31. Hard to Say Goodbye

Sitting comfortably in the booth seat next to Naomi, they waited for Admiral Mike Harrigan to arrive. And when he did, Rae visibly tensed. The Admiral looked like the spitting image of Naomi's father, only older.

It was like seeing a ghost.

Having spotted them from across the diner, the older man approached their secluded table, noting that the consecutive tables nearby were reserved with signs. "I see you've given us some privacy. I'm sorry I haven't been able to introduce myself until now, and under better circumstances. But I hope in time I can earn your trust as my granddaughter has." He extended his hand toward her, "The name's Mike. Mike Harrigan."

Burying her initial reaction, Rae gave him a warm smile. "I'm Rae," she shook his hand, her smile widening in realization, "but you already knew that."

He returned her smile in a charming sort of way that put her at ease. "Thank you for agreeing to meet with me."

She nodded. It hadn't been easy. It took much negotiating and compromising on her part to make Tomak agree to anything. What really helped seal the deal was Naomi's telling of Mr. Harrigan's experience with yautja, how he defeated one of them in hand-to-hand combat, and was later gifted with a centuries old pistol.

This had effectively piqued Tomak's interest, and after much deliberation, he agreed to let Rae go, but only if he was there watching the whole interaction. That was the deal, and no amount of disputing was going to change his mind. So Rae agreed only under two conditions, that Tomak had to be cloaked, and he could not be inside the building. She didn't for a moment want to jeopardize his safety if things did go south. But despite her rules, that still gave him free range to take up his position wherever he deemed fit, and currently she could just barely make out his silhouette on the top of the building across the street.

Now finally seeing the Admiral in the flesh, she admitted, "It was not easy to do, considering all that's happened."

Knowing exactly what she was referring to, he sighed, leaning forward on his elbows, "And I am deeply sorry for what transpired. On behalf of the good people of America, I extend our deepest apologies. Not everyone here is like Price, but I think you know that already," his eyes veered to Naomi with pride.

She did know, but aside from Mr. Harrigan, she would not place herself amongst someone with such influential power, willingly.

"Are you well?"

She should have expected his question, but it happened to catch her off-guard. As if being reminded of her wounds, Rae subconsciously ghosted her hand over her shoulder, where the bite mark had been. It was still tender to the touch but much better, and the bullet wounds were nonexistent except for the shiny white scar tissue that had taken its place.

Not wanting to dwell on her newly acquired and unwanted scars, she hid her inner pain with a smile and thanked him for his concern, reassuring him, "I'm okay. I heal quickly."

"For that I'm glad," he rasped, his eyes shifting uneasily as they ghosted the nearby tables, obviously anxious of anyone hearing. Speaking in a hushed tone, he admitted, "Footage was recovered from the labs of what you had to endure in there." He swallowed, his gaze hardening as he met her eyes once more, "I'm sorry we didn't get you out faster."

"I appreciate your sentiment, but I'm sure you did everything you could, sir."

"Mike or Mr. Harrigan if you must," he corrected, and Naomi nudged Rae supportively. "I've known you too long to have you call me sir."

"Well, thank you for everything," her heart swelled in her chest, "I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you, and your son." Her voice felt shaky, but she managed to hold back the brunt of it, but it was not missed by Mr. Harrigan or Naomi, who had inconspicuously placed her hand on her wrist under the table, squeezing comfortingly and acting as the very support Rae needed to continue this conversation.

Appreciation painted over Harrigan's expression, it sincerely touched him to know that his son's death was not simply mourned by his immediate family. "You're very welcome." Smiling fondly, he changed the subject slightly to hopefully lift Rae's spirits, "I hope you're making good use of the safe house we leant to you."

Shocked at first, Rae had stiffened as well as Naomi, neither of them having any idea he knew where she had been staying, but then all the pieces began to fall in place as Rae recalled the events after her first escape. "You set up the locker!" her eyes shot wide, realization finally taking over.

"Yes," he chuckled, "both my son and I did. We wanted to provide you with a few options to choose from and a new identity that wouldn't feel too different for you, especially since we knew adoption and foster care would not be an option if we were to keep you from government eyes."

"Wait," Naomi cut in, turning her body so she could look between the two of them, "rewind it back, I wasn't filled in on any of this."

Smiling, Rae happily did so, starting from the moment Naomi's father had broken her out of her cell. She recalled the memory of him placing that single key in her hand, telling her to run and escape.

It was only after she hid away on one of their trucks that she took the time to actually see it for herself. In that jostling trailer, she stared openly at the key and carefully noted the tag attached to the key ring. Later she discovered that it was meant to give access to a small storage locker just beyond Ohio's borders in a run-down town in West Virginia.

With the help of some kind people, she managed to get there without much trouble. And inside that storage unit had been everything she needed to survive: a fake identity, several keys to homes located across the country, school systems that would already be ready to accept her, cash, and even fresh new clothes in her size.

She had been fifteen then. And having never lived on her own before without support, it had been a rough first few weeks. There was so much she had yet to understand then and she had been thrown into the fray. However, despite the difficulties in the beginning, she was thankful for it.

She couldn't imagine how many laws Mr. Harrigan had bent and broken to put her in the position she was in. Foster care had honestly never been a concern, or even a forethought, but she understood now that she was well below the age to have been considered a mature enough adult. The sudden flaunting of responsibilities though likely spurred her maturity levels at a younger age, which was fortunate, she didn't want to imagine what trouble she could have gotten into had she not taken things as seriously.

"I had hoped you would choose this area," he chuckled, draping an arm over the rise of the booth's leather seats. "Naomi needed a friend and I think you did too," he looked between them.

"Well," Naomi cut in, expertly avoiding his eye contact, "he may have orchestrated our meeting, but we did all the heavy lifting in this relationship," she turned the attention to Rae with a teasing smile, bumping shoulders with her for emphasis. "So he can't take all the credit."

Chuckling, Rae bumped her back, "For sure, but," she looked back to Naomi's grandfather with a warm expression, "credit should be given where credit's due, so thank you Mr. Harrigan."

He smiled with a nod, his closed-lip expression causing more creases to form around his mouth. It was very reminiscent of the encouraging looks she would receive from his son whenever he made an effort to secretly visit her cell. It drew a breath from her, memories she had thought she had forgotten came flaunting back.

It took everything in her to muster the strength to keep a cool face and not break down, but then she looked out the window, knowing exactly where Tomak was situated, his cloaked outline like an anchor in her turbulent sea. Within seconds, the sadness curling around her heart loosened its grip and she took a deep breath.

As if sensing it herself, Naomi's leg shifted, secretly pressing up against hers. It was enough to make her smile at her, letting her know she was okay.

Returning her thoughts toward the conversation that Naomi was now thankfully taking over, she had time to really think about the arrangement Mr. Harrigan had put her in. And after thinking about it for a good long minute, she frowned thoughtfully, realizing that he would have likely heard all about her from Naomi or her mom, which would have narrowed the list down to where she was actually staying, and this meant one thing.

"So all this time, you knew exactly where I was staying, and you never once stopped by?"

Her quick question and observation had taken Mike by surprise, but after meeting her eyes he took an unusually long breath and nodded. "I wanted to give you your privacy. If I had suddenly shown up at your door, you may have questioned if you were truly safe. Which is exactly why I took that safe house off the map so no one, not even the law enforcers, the military, or even government officials would have any idea of its existence." He watched as her eyes widened exponentially.

The Harrigan family had done so much for her, she felt like she had been knitted into it. A sentiment she had never considered until now. Here these people that didn't even know her, sacrificed everything to keep her safe.

Dropping her eyes to her interlocked hands, she tightened her fingers further, her heart swelling, oversaturated with heartfelt appreciation and an unpayable debt. Having no words to really express her gratitude accurately, Rae pushed her reservations aside and reached across the table, laying her hand on his arm. "You've done way more for me behind-the-scenes than I realized. Thank you."

The older man looked genuinely moved by her actions, but when he didn't immediately respond, she began to doubt what she was reading from him, wondering if she was overstepping her boundaries.

But it seemed words were at a loss for him too. He felt emotion didn't really suit his character and instead lamented, "After what you went through, and then losing your father, I felt it was my responsibility to take it upon myself to keep your identity safe. And I thank god that you are still in one piece after your ordeal. Not just regarding Price, but the predator as well."

Rae went quiet, stiffening at his admittance. She had a feeling this topic of conversation would circle around and she should have been better prepared for it.

Leaning forward, clearly invested in her answer, he probed, "And it still hasn't harmed you, right?" He said it like he believed she was hiding the truth.

Although she knew he meant well, the word 'it' did not bode well for her and she felt her jaw tightening uncomfortably. "Tomak's been good to me," she allowed, meeting the Admiral's eyes defensively. "He's very protective of me."

His eyes narrowed, almost accusingly so. "Why?"

There wasn't too much she wanted to share in regards to her newfound relationship with the big guy, so Rae downplayed it, sharing partial truths that could explain this phenomenon. "I saved his life, he felt honorbound to show me respect. But eventually we got to really know each other and we became very close."

The Admiral frowned as if he didn't understand, like she had spoken in a foreign language. "You speak as if it shows outward emotions."

Rae paused, thinking about it carefully. "I will admit it's hard for him to be as emotional as we are, it's just not in his culture, but he has made leaps and bounds in expressing how he feels, at least to me. But I guess you could say I'm in his inner circle, I wouldn't imagine he would be apt to showing that side of himself to just anyone, especially humans."

Recollections of the video footage of Price's lab flashed in the man's eyes. He could very much agree with her last statement. Aside from herself, the beast seemed to not care at all for human life. Straightening uncomfortably, Harrigan let out a necessary breath. "I never thought I'd see another one of his kind again. I hoped I never would. They all seem to like to leave a mess behind."

Rae bit her lip, giving him a sad smile. She knew exactly why Harrigan felt the way he did. To be frank, if she only had the memory of him trying to kill her, she probably would have felt the same, not that she would admit that he did at one point try to claim her as a trophy. "Tomak's been good about keeping out of sight and he never harmed anyone when I was around, that is, until I was captured," she added quietly. "It took every bit of convincing on my end to get him to agree to let me see you."

Adding to that thought, Naomi jumped in chuckling, "Yeah, he's a bit like an overprotective boyfriend. He won't let her out of his sight."

After Naomi's insightful comment, it was as if he was suddenly struck with awareness of the predator's presence. Instantly, becoming tense, he looked past the advertising on the window and lifted his eyes to the nearby rooftops, continuously scanning each one carefully.

It was at that exact moment Rae whole-heartedly believed that the man had in fact come in contact with a yautja. No one else would have thought to look at the top of a building. Others unfamiliar with his species might have scanned the treeline for signs of lurking life, but not the top of a building, unless they were fully aware of their capabilities. "So it's true then, you have met his kind before," she watched his expression carefully as he returned his attention to her.

"Met," he snorted, "I think you mean, survived."

Taking in his distant countenance, Rae rested her arms on the table, and took her time asking the one question she was most curious about. "Naomi already shared with me some of what happened, but I didn't get the full picture. If you don't mind, could you tell me what happened? What led you to killing one of them?"

A heavy sigh left Harrigan, his frown deepening as he leaned further back in his seat. "You want the truth? The truth is, those monsters are not as friendly as they appear. They're killers right down to the bone. One by one it was dropping members of my team like there was no tomorrow. So your views matter little to me. It doesn't feel anything."

His conviction was potent. Rae heard the hatred in his words. And every name he put down as he described the place of their death, stung her heart, like antiseptic on an open wound. She could almost feel his pain as he recalled the events of their death.

"I'm so sorry for your losses," she held his glossy gaze. "I know how it feels." Maybe not in regards to a yautja, but she realized that Harrigan's view of them was like her view of that black serpent she had killed. It had been unfeeling when it killed Damon out of cold-blood and it didn't hesitate to try and finish her off either. Any memory she had of that moment was covered in a thick layer of fear, just the image of it in her mind made her skin crawl and her mouth run dry. That was exactly how he saw yautja, as mindless monsters.

"I cannot speak for all yautja, or for the one you met, but I do know Tomak, and he's different than how you say."

Harrigan snorted, more in defeat than anything else. Clearly in no mood to argue with her, he grumbled with a wave of his hand, "To each their own."

And she smiled sadly at that. Deciding that this was the compromise. She couldn't convince him otherwise, just like she was confident no one, not even Tomak could change her view of the black alien that stalked her nightmares.

Making the decision to lead the subject away to something else, she sat straighter. "Naomi was telling me before that there was something urgent you needed to share with me?"

Perked up, Harrigan nodded emphatically, "Yes." Purposefully avoiding her gaze, and lacing his fingers together, he explained, "I wanted to make sure that everything about this case is sealed tight, never to happen again. So I have some questions that need to be asked, and I understand if they make you feel uncomfortable, but they are necessary in the court of law. Do you agree to this?"

Rae watched as he pulled out a recording device. "And it will be anonymous?"

Harrigan nodded, "Yes, we will even mask your voice so it cannot be traced back to you."

Taking a breath, Rae folded her own hands and gave a firm nod, "Okay."

Starting the device, Harrigan began with his first series of questions that were simple. 'How old was she when she was first taken captive?' 'What sort of experiments were run?' But eventually they transitioned from questions about her to the more incriminating facts.

"Are there any names that you remember that had a hand in your torture?"

Rae thought about it for a moment, "No one really tortured me other than Price and the guards, though I don't know any of their names."

"Well aside from torture then, who played a part in your capture and imprisonment?"

"Inside the labs there were a few, a girl named Lilith, I remember seeing a name tag for a Thomas." She frowned, in deep thought. "There was a team of soldiers that captured me for money, I only remember the leader."

"A man?" Mike sat back, his hand coming up to rub his face as he took in this new information.

"Yeah, I think his name was something like Mick or..." she frowned, taking a second, "Mc... Mckenna. Yeah, that was it! Mckenna."

"Mckenna," he jotted that down, "sounds familiar. How would you describe him, young? Old?"

"Older, he had graying hair, looked to be in his early to mid sixties."

Jotting this all down, Harrigan nodded, pausing the recorder. "I will personally look into these names and see if there is anyone matching your descriptions that is already under our custody."

"Oh wait!" Rae was almost out of her seat, which had taken Mike by surprise. "By any chance, did you ever arrest a woman by the name of Amanda?" she asked curiously, settling herself back down.

Harrigan sighed, nodding in affirmation, "She had an opportunity to run, but hung back to help some scientists escape before the building came down. It turns out, she had some key criminalizing evidence, several vials in fact." He saw her visibly stiffen and raised hand to firmly assure, "I will see to it personally that the blood samples are destroyed after they are used as evidence in court, along with her testimony against Price." Noting the leery tapering of her eyes, and the unsettled quirk of her lips he paused entirely, wondering what it was he said to have caused such a look. Believing it was his statement regarding Amanda, he tried to assure her, "Amanda's willingness to speak may mean a reduced sentence, but she will still be convicted and sentenced to time in federal prison, nothing will be able to stop that."

Rae chewed on her lip, her quiet thoughts like a clap of thunder to Harrigan.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

Rae flicked her eyes from her hands to him, her emotions running high. "It's not Amanda I'm worried about, it's those vials. It wasn't just my blood that was taken in those labs, but yautja, alien blood," she amended. "I can't afford for corrupt influential people to get a hold of that again."

Tilting her head, she eyed the man sitting across from her, assessing him carefully, "And as I hear it, the government doesn't want alien existence to be public. My blood is proof enough of my captivity, there is no purpose for those other vials. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were given orders to hold onto it for lab testing."

Harrigan was stunned into silence. For one being so young, Rae was proving to be much more perceptive than one might think. In fact, he was rather impressed with her deduction. It told him that nothing was getting past her, which was encouraging.

Most who experienced such traumatic events tended to seal themselves off, sometimes losing their minds to the haze of combat fatigue. It was more common amongst soldiers who endured grievous war. They would essentially return home and even in a safe environment believe they were still surviving warfare, losing their minds to a nightmarish nostalgia. Harrigan sincerely hoped Rae would not suffer from the same condition.

"I can see there is no deceiving you Rae, so I won't. I did receive orders to store those vials for further research and analysis—"

Rae flew out of her seat, her eyes wide with fear and her words fast and desperate, "But sir please you can't–"

His hand rose steadily though, silencing her so he could finish his thought. "And that's exactly why I brought them here with me." Before her very eyes, he lifted a silver briefcase that had been next to him, placing it on the table between them.

Apparently, her attention had been so riveted on his almost identical appearance to his son, she had somehow missed seeing the briefcase brought in with him. Hesitantly lifting her hands to the silver case, she paused just out of reach from touching it, looking up at Harrigan for permission.

He smiled encouragingly, which was followed by another small bump from Naomi. "Go ahead," he gestured, "Some of it belongs to you anyway."

Taking the briefcase in both hands, she dragged it closer and began working on the latches that held it together. Once they came free, she slowly lifted the lid and immediately felt Naomi's arm press into her as she leaned in to get a better look.

What was safely contained inside were seven vials. Two were blood red, the other five however were a dull lime green. Rae stared at the odd coloration for the yautja blood, remembering how Tomak's appeared. It should have glowed a neon green. Was this the blood they experimented with? Was this what they had injected into Damon? The serum? Knowing Amanda had it, Rae had a pretty good idea what she intended to do with it.

"I don't always see eye to eye with my superiors," Harrigan interrupted her thoughts. "So I decided the fate of these vials should fall to you. You could trust me with them as they would be helpful in our charges against Price and his company, and I would personally dispose of them after. Or," he lingered, "you could take it all and do what you wish with it."

"You would let me walk away with them?"

"Yes," he spoke unwaveringly.

Her eyes flicked up to his. "You would really go against your own government's wishes regarding the serum?" She almost didn't believe him.

Mike folded his hands, his gaze pointed. "I am doing this for my country. Any experiments involving alien life and biology have only led to more violence and bloodshed. Let's just say I'm doing our country a favor. So the decision is yours."

Rae dropped her gaze to the vials once more, the gears turning in her head before she took one of the vials out and held it out for Harrigan to take, which he did gratefully. "I accept your terms and I agree, it would be beneficial for the case if you had at least one vial of my blood, and I trust that you'll take care of it. But the rest of these are staying with me."

"I'm sure Tomak knows exactly what to do with them," Naomi interjected with a smile, purposefully holding her friend's attention as she mimed an explosion with her hands.

She chuckled before voicing, "Probably." But really it wasn't probably, she knew that was exactly what he'd decide in the end, and she full-heartedly agreed.

Turning her head up to Harrigan, another pressing question come to the forefront of her mind. "What about Damon's family? What's going to be done for them?"

Mike sighed. "We have already informed them of their son's death. We will cover all the expenses regarding his burial and the family will receive great honor as well as a large sum of money." It was a sad situation, Harrigan was well aware what it felt like to lose family, and money did not make up for it in the slightest, but given that the family did still have two little girls, he was sure it would benefit them. Even so, death was never easy.

Nodding quietly, Rae said nothing in reply. But she didn't need to, he'd seen that expression hundreds of times before.

"You have no reason to blame yourself, Rae."

She flinched, now giving him her full attention. Was she that easy to read?

"Self blame is common in warfare especially when you lose someone close. Veterans who lose someone in their squad often report feelings of guilt and even suicidal thoughts. I don't want that to be you, Rae."

His tone was abrasive, non-compromising and almost fatherly. He was legitimately worried for her and a lump formed in her throat at recognizing it. She was genuinely touched. And to reinforce his words, Naomi bumped her again.

"Rae's stronger than that. But," her eyes narrowed on her, "if you ever did do that to me, I don't care, I would drag you back to the living and punch you square in the mouth."

And just like that, spirits were lifted. Rae snorted, a wry smile slowly spreading over her lips, "Duly noted."

Having not finished his line of thought, Harrigan ignored the girls' banter entirely. "What I mean is, you need to think about your own recovery, not the past. Focusing on your own well-being isn't selfish, it's necessary. Can you at least try and do that for me?"

Self-recovery. She hadn't thought of that, mainly because she was so worried about everyone and everything else. But as she considered it, she thought about her discussion with Naomi regarding Tomak's offer.

He was willing and eager to take her away from the world that had caused her so much strife, even showering her with the promise that their blossoming relationship would only grow, and that he would take her as a life mate.

Although the fears were still very real, she truly wondered if the change was what she needed to recover. Yes, there were so many good memories here on her home planet, but there were also a lot of reminders of what she lost. Was Tomak's offer what would turn the tables for her own mental health?

Meeting Harrigan's dark eyes, she nodded. Yes, she would try.

"Good." Looking between the two girls he smiled, happy with the turn of events. "Well, I would like to stay longer, but I have much to get done. Thank you again for your valuable intel and I wish you... and your large friend well." He added the last bit rather grudgingly, but she was compelled to smile at his efforts.

"Do you want to meet him?" the question had flown out of her mouth effortlessly, but she meant every word. Part of her hoped to change his view.

But Mike knew exactly who she was referring to. "No I—"

"Trust me pops," Naomi pressed her hands flush to the table, leaning forward as she insistently held his gaze, "you want to meet him."

Before he could even refuse, Rae was urging Naomi to let her out of the booth. "Let me go talk to him first. We'll meet out back," Rae knew it was wooded, it would provide proper cover from public eyes.

"And I'll take this to the truck," Naomi hugged the briefcase to her chest and began scooting out of the booth.

"I really don't have a choice, do I?" Harrigan gave them both one of his amused, reluctant chuckles.

Smiling big, Rae opened her mouth in response only for Naomi to butt in with a pronounced, "Nope!"

—

Tomak hadn't been thrilled by the idea either. It would seem neither really wanted to meet each other, but that had only incited the girls to try that much harder.

"It might change his view on your kind for the better," Rae spoke persuasively to the large yautja that was freeing the metallic mask from his face, giving her a clear view to his gorgeous eyes.

"And why should I care?" he folded his thick arms, looking down at her with indifference.

Reaching out, she stroked the cords of muscle just above his hip, savoring the texture and radiating heat. Testing her limits, she went as far up as his obliques where the armor did not cover, watching in her peripherals how his arms loosened as she continued to trace his green scales. "You should care because he is a high-ranking military officer that believes all of you are monsters."

Still, in spite of her teasing, he was fighting it, acting oblivious to her touch. "And?" his eyes flared, wild with mischief.

She huffed in disbelief. "And... you should care because I care," she turned it on him, pressing herself further against his side.

It had him growling huskily. "Are you trying to tempt me with your feminine charm, gorgeous?"

Having been caught under the intensity of his gaze, she looked up at him with a devious cheeky little smile. "Feminine charm, huh? Is it working then?"

He chuckled, his arms dropping to gather her closer to him. Lowering his head, he took a long breath of her scent and released a rattling sigh that sounded like victory to her own ears. "Fine. If it pleases you, I will meet this male."

Grinning, she leaned up and placed a quick, chaste kiss on his lower tusk. "Thank you," she whispered to him, loving the way his eyes glowed intensely as he looked down at her. Taking his hand, she tugged him along in the direction Naomi and Mike were waiting. And when they finally came into view, she heard the Admiral curse.

"Good god," he stared wide-eyed at the large alien following after Rae. He was bigger than the alien he previously remembered, but his eyes were that familiar predator gold. "That is one big mother–"

"Shh!" Naomi hushed him sharply. Grabbing his arm she whispered just as harsh, "He'll hear you!"

Harrigan didn't care. In all his years he had hoped he would never see another one of these hunters again, but surprisingly, regardless of the creature's size, he quickly caught on to the fact that Rae was holding hands with it. He felt like his mind had short-circuited. What he was seeing couldn't be real.

"Mr. Harrigan," Rae had pulled him from his frozen state, "I want you to meet Tomak. Tomak, this is Naomi's grandfather."

Tomak looked the human over with a critical eye. The man looked shaken, his hands clenching apprehensively at his sides, but his dark eyes were fierce. Eyes of a battle-hardened warrior. However, he was older, much too old to be considered an honorable trophy, which led him to believe this male had faced off with one of his brethren when he was in his prime.

Receiving a soft nudge from Rae, urging him to speak, he grunted, breaking the silence. "I have heard much about you, human," he growled in his naturally gruff voice.

Rae quickly spun on him then, giving him a disapproving glance, "Really? Human? You couldn't have at least sounded welcoming?" she whispered for only him to hear.

He arrogantly stared down at her in amusement.

Harrigan on the other hand, swallowed, his eyes fixed on the beast's unreadable face. Finding his courage he answered him similarly. "I could say the same. You left quite a mess in Ohio." His heart seized in his chest as the predator switched its focus from Rae to him.

He chose his next words very carefully though as his eyes trailed down to the girl that was attentively watching the predator. He could have sworn he saw more than friendly appreciation in her soft gaze, but he didn't dare consider it further. "But I can see the cause," he admitted, albeit a little quietly. "I would have done the same if I could."

It was true. If he didn't have to answer to the law, he would have happily brought the hammer down on Price and his whole operation. The government made everything so irritably complicated. There were so many more steps involved to accomplish anything and it grew tiresome. It frustrated him that even with his rank he was so limited in his capabilities.

Interestingly enough, the yautja was slow to answer, but that said nothing about its intelligence. Harrigan could see the clockwork behind those predatory eyes. The beast was cautious, and methodical, clearly thinking its response through. And when it did speak, it was well heard.

"For what you have done for my female," its eyes lowered to Rae's glowing face, "you have my respect."

My female echoed in Harrigan's head and he wasn't quite sure what to think of it or how to even reply and Rae somehow sensing his dilemma.

Biting her lip, she took a breath before stepping up to the plate. "I wanted to be honest with you, Mr. Harrigan. Tomak will be returning home to his people, and he's invited me to go with him."

She watched as he visibly stiffened, his mouth opening as if he was about to convince her otherwise, but she beat him to the punch. "I have already made my decision. I just didn't want you to worry if you ever visited the safe house and found I wasn't there."

"So you are going to go," Naomi's bright smile was directed from her friend to Tomak. "You better take good care of her, crabs," she pointed at him, both playfully and seriously.

Tomak growled, huffing out something that no one heard.

Seeing her opening, Naomi continued to barrage Tomak with rapid-fire questions and concerns regarding their travels, and Rae giggled softly as he gave her a tired look. Deciding to take her own chance to speak with Harrigan semi-privately, she approached the anxious man.

He looked at her in disbelief. "Are you sure about this?" he lowered his voice as if afraid Tomak would hear him.

She nodded, looking back towards her yautja who had his arms crossed staring indignantly at a rambling Naomi. The sight warmed her heart. Turning back to the concerned man in front of her she smiled, "It's like you said, right? You want me to take time to focus on myself and recover. Maybe exploring the universe will help me with that."

Harrigan looked like he was going to counter, but her next words stopped him in his place.

Looking down at her open hands, she spoke in a soft honest tone that reflected something deep in her heart that she hadn't opened up about. "There's still a lot I have yet to discover about myself and I don't think I'm going to get those answers here."

He listened intently, taking in the meaning behind her words. She wanted to explore her abilities, something she wasn't capable of doing here without exposing herself to a frightened world, and they both knew it.

"I understand," he nodded solemnly. "But if you ever return, know that the safe house is yours. You've earned it."

"Thank you, I really appreciate that." It actually relieved her, knowing she would have a place to come back to if she got the chance, and that would be an important discussion she would need to have with Tomak, to ensure that she would be returning. It was almost a funny thought. They hadn't even left yet and here she was already planning for the trip home.

"Before I head out, is there anything else you need from me?" His question was both sincere and discerning.

She thought about it for a moment, on the cusp of saying 'no' when her thoughts circled back to an earlier conversation. "You said Amanda would be going to jail," she began, trying to think of her next words carefully.

Harrigan nodded in confirmation, wondering where she was going with this.

"But is what she said true? Does she have a sick son in a hospital somewhere?"

He took a breath, recalling his interrogation with the wayward woman. "She mentioned this during our questioning, and we have confirmation that she does indeed have a son, and he is sick with cancer."

Her heart felt heavy in her chest as she put it all together. "So if Amanda is imprisoned, she will miss time with her son, and if the cancer's bad enough, he could die while she's living out her sentence."

"It is unfortunately a tough situation," he admitted sadly, "but I'm not the judge. We can bring it up during the case, but eventually, at some point she will have to spend the time and be away from her son."

Nodding thoughtfully, Rae hugged her elbows. None of it sat right with her. "How old is he again?" something in her needed to know.

"Five. Our intel says the hospital has been his home for years, but he's not alone. He has a father that cares and visits him frequently."

She nodded, absorbing this new information. The poor kid. She could easily visualize herself when she was his age, bed-ridden, hardly any energy. But family was what kept her going, being with her father and listening to his stories and uplifting words had pushed her through. The only difference between the boy and herself was he still had his mom, a very special person in his life.

"What's his name?" she wanted to know.

"James, but he likes to be called Jamie."

"Jamie," she uttered it softly. He sounded adorable and that broke her heart further. She wanted to do something, but she wasn't about to change anything in regards to Amanda's punishment. However, there was still one idea, risky, but sound. "Can you do something for me? As a favor?"

Blinking in surprise, Harrigan folded his arms, "What kind of favor?"

So she told him her idea, explaining what she would need in return to make it work.

"Well," he sighed, running his hand through his thinning hair. "It's possible. I may be able to set something up for tomorrow morning, but I'll need to make some last minute calls."

"I appreciate whatever you can offer."

He smiled, patting her shoulder reassuringly, "I think I know just the man to escort you, but I will need clearance with the hospital and permits from the city before it's a done deal. I will contact Naomi if it's all set."

"Did I hear my name?" Naomi called, looking at them both with her hands on her hips.

Rae giggled, deciding to not respond to her question just yet and instead offered the Admiral a warm smile. "Thank you," and before he had a chance to take his leave, Rae had taken a few steps forward to give the man a surprise hug, ignoring the overprotective growl emanating from behind them. "Thank you for everything you and your son have done for me."

He let out a breath, taken aback by her hug, but his surprise was quickly replaced with good spirits, moving him to pat her back gently in return. "We were only doing what was right."

Releasing him, she smiled genuinely. "Still, thank you for your service and saving my life, sir."

"Mike," he countered with a soft antagonized chuckle.

"Mike," she relented with a big smile.

"And I expect you will take excellent care of her," he suddenly spoke over her head, and Rae didn't know what for until she felt the intense heat stemming from directly behind her.

Half turning, she caught a glimpse of Tomak's expression as he stared the man down. He was clearly not pleased with the physical contact that just occurred between them, but now that she was within his immediate reach, he was relaxing, his frame becoming a tad less intimidating, well, at least to her.

Watching him carefully, Rae heard as he grunted his answer, gently tugging her close to him, making her giggle.

Having gotten his answer rather bluntly, Harrigan shook his head silently in astonishment at seeing the blatant affection shared between the two. Maybe there was more to these beasts. With that thought, he waved a farewell to the girls, disappearing back the way he came.

Watching him go for a moment, Naomi turned to the two lovebirds, and sidled up to them with a smirk. "You just can't keep your hands off each other, can you?"

Rae felt the vibrations of Tomak's grumble, and laughed, pressing her hands flat against his abdomen in a silent request to be released. He did so stiffly, his attention solely on the troublemaker.

Masterfully avoiding Tomak's caustic glare, Naomi jumped ship to a safer topic. "So what was that all about?"

Giving her a wry smile, she promised softly, "I'll tell you on the ride back."

Fishing out her keys from her pocket, she jingled them around pointedly, "Well it's a good thing I brought the truck, ain't that right, Tomak?"

Rae shook her head with a grin. Naomi had run her mouth for almost the entire ride to the cafè about how excited she was to have Tomak ride in the bed when they made their return trip. The reason was, originally they agreed that the risk of someone seeing him move from the truck to the building was too risky, especially since they didn't know if Harrigan would be true to his word about coming alone. Tomak's cloak was good, but not perfect. So it was safer that he move on foot. And Naomi had added in for good measure that he could catch a ride home, since at that point, it wouldn't matter.

Naomi's excitement to anything involving Tomak honestly made her wonder if her best friend was simping over him. It would honestly explain the nicknames. Just the idea of it made her want to laugh, because not only did she know Tomak wasn't interested, but it validated her own feelings, proving she wasn't weird to feel something for someone so different than herself.

She couldn't prevent her smirk as she peered over her shoulder to Tomak who was purposefully unresponsive. She could almost translate for him. "I'm not sure he'll want the ride, Naomi."

"Pfft, sure he does!" she dismissed her comment entirely.

And that was when Rae sensed Tomak's resolve wearing dangerously thin. But before she could give her blessedly clueless friend further warning, she made the situation worse, uttering something about him being a 'passenger princess,' which was the last straw for the big guy.

His hand was on Naomi's shoulder before Rae could blink, roughly pulling her aside, "You incite my wrath, female," his harsh voice deepening to convey the threat more clearly for her.

And boy did she get the point. "Alright alright! Geez!" she attempted to tug her arm out of his grip only to find it wasn't so easy. Tomak was not messing around and he was making that crystal clear for her.

When he released her she pulled away practically pouting in disappointment, and when she realized Rae wasn't even trailing behind her anymore, she paused, noting how her attention was now entirely turned to Tomak. This prompted Naomi to keep going, brushing it all off. "I'll be waiting in the truck," she called to no one in particular, her tone like that of a child who had just been scolded.

It made Rae smile, calling after her, "I'll be there in a second." She still couldn't believe Naomi's audacity and it pulled at the corner of her mouth more insistently.

Waiting until Naomi was entirely out of earshot, she looked up at Tomak, crossing her arms in a telling way. "Can I ask you something?" her tone was playful and immediately she noticed his guard go up.

She couldn't hide her smile.

"If that was me saying that, I would have been pinned to the ground instead of getting a shoulder-grab. So is that because you're getting soft, or is that just special treatment for me?"

Tomak growled, his eyes glowing intensely as he stepped in her space, forcing her to retreat before she was pinned between him and a tree.

The hard grooved bark pressed uncomfortably into her back, a small breath escaping her as she blinked up at him in surprise. Then her shock turned into laughter. "See this is exactly what I'm talking about!" Her hands quickly came up, pressing her palms against his chest to prevent him from coming any closer.

Unexpectedly, his hand cupped beneath her chin, tilting her face up to his. It made her swallow. "You know better," he husked, the tone of his voice erecting goosebumps all over her skin.

That was accurate. She did know better, but she had a feeling he enjoyed doing this to her on a deeper level.

"Mmm, I feel there's more to it than that," she held his unblinking stare, effectively putting him on notice that she knew exactly why he acted this way. But this was a conversation for another time, Naomi was waiting for them after all.

And just like that, she slipped out of his hold, smiling rather proudly as he watched her, his body still poised in its original position against the tree. He truly seemed unprepared for her teasing and undecided if he should take further action as punishment.

Knowing she was in hot water if she didn't change the subject, Rae gestured to the forest. "So are you taking your own way back or are you coming with us?"

His eyes narrowed as he finally stood taller, pulling away from the tree to face her. He knew she was changing the subject, but thankfully he seemed to go along with it, at least for now. "I will meet you at the ship," he purred, turning back to the forest.

It was at that moment Rae truly appreciated the bits of sun that poked through the leafy canopy, bouncing off of his sculpted body as he prowled further into the shady darkness. Every ounce of him was a predator, born to the wild, not standing out from it, but blending in. It was beautiful.

She hadn't even realized she took a step towards him until a leaf crunched under her shoe, the sound somehow capturing his sensitive hearing. Instead of turning fully around, there was a pause in his stance, a hesitation and it drew a childish giddy warmth from her.

Suddenly, before she could toss away the idea that had come unbidden in her mind, she called out to him. "Hey Tomak!"

She watched with hopeful anticipation as his muscular profile turned to look at her once again. Meeting his glowing eyes, she allowed a tentative smile voicing her proposal. "Race you there?"

His chuckle was deep. Now fully facing her, Rae was tempted to step further under the shade of the trees, further into his playground.

"Race?" he questioned, eyes flashing in mild amusement.

She smiled a tad wider, her heart fluttering wildly in the confines of her chest as she held his confident stare, replying with her own self-assured, "Yeah."

"And you require a machine to beat me?" she heard his smug pride following the question, and it burned.

Her hands landed on her hips as she stared, "Hey don't you judge my methods, I simply wanted to give you a challenge," she defended.

"Because you will lose otherwise." Again he spoke as if he knew, his arms folded arrogantly across his chest.

It both annoyed and amused her. "Dammit, Tomak! Stop twisting my words!" she laughed.

His spiky brow rose as he took another long stride towards her, crowding her in. "I am not twisting anything gorgeous."

Two could play his game. "Sounds like you're backing out," she arched an eyebrow, loving the way his eyes narrowed in mischief. He did not like that accusation at all and she was only digging her pit deeper. "I didn't think an elite warrior such as yourself would fear losing."

That probably had been too far.

Tomak let out a dark snarl, the sound bordering on threatening. And Rae was positive that if it hadn't come from her, he would not be so forgiving. Had it been another yautja, she could imagine the accusation being equivalent to asking for an early grave, which wasn't on her bucket list to experience or see for that matter.

"It is a dangerous game to tease a yautja," the pupils of his eyes expanded, like an eclipse, it darkened them immensely so all that was left was a gold ring of light. It was both beautiful and scary.

With his one step forward, she took two small steps back, earning a wicked grin from him.

"Your boldness will be your undoing when I am victorious," he promised with a rather sinister purr, sounding way too suggestive to her own ears.

She swallowed though, biting her lip at the prospect of there being another bet between them. She had sworn to herself that she would never gamble with Tomak, but as excitement bled into her veins, sending that illusive electrical feeling zipping through her, the idea of it was just something she couldn't resist. "What do you want from me?" she coaxed, wanting to know the stakes.

Her heart skipped several beats as he took another step closer, his body mere inches away now. Forced to tilt her head back to look him in the eye, she felt her blood drop several degrees as his penetrating eyes swept over her with clear intent. "There is a lot I want," he rumbled deeply.

Breathe, she reminded herself, feeling her heart beating like a drum. "I'm aware," she dropped her gaze, feeling too exposed to those all-seeing eyes.

His large warm hand cupped her chin again, sending butterflies spritzing about in her stomach as he made her look at him a second time. "And on the unlikely chance I fail, what is it that you want, gorgeous?"

His question had taken her by surprise, but she wasn't quite prepared to answer him. Her eyes roved blatantly down his front before she met his brightening eyes. "I'm sure I can think of something," she teased, enjoying his rumbling chuckle.

Dropping his hand from her face, Tomak gave her one of his more sultry purrs, before he turned on his heel and ran, going deeper into the forest.

Rae blinked, her mind slowly catching up with her eyes. He was starting the race!

Sprinting back the way she came, she all but threw herself into the passenger seat of Naomi's lightning-blue F150.

"Woah, where's the fire at?" Naomi looked clearly amused by her disheveled appearance and was probably on the verge of teasing her about it.

But Rae had no time for it. "Drive! We're racing him back!"

All her words came out in one breath, but Naomi got it, thankfully putting the truck in drive and pulling out onto the road, though probably a little faster than she should have. The sound of the roaring engine and burning tires was enough to have Rae scrambling for the seatbelt.

"Let me guess, you turned it into a bet, didn't you?" Naomi shook her head with an ever present grin.

It aggravated Rae putting her on the defensive. "Hey, he turned it into a bet, okay? I just wanted to have fun with it."

"Uh-huh. And what are the stakes?" she smiled hearing her let out a stressed little sigh when they were forced to stop at a red light. "That high, huh?" she giggled.

"Why is this light taking so long to turn green?!" Rae leaned forward, glaring angrily at the traffic lights.

Naomi smirked, enjoying herself. "Well, since we have nowhere to go, tell me what that conversation with gramps was about."

Releasing a pent up sigh, deciding that staring at the lights weren't going to make them turn faster, Rae relented and began to explain her experience with Amanda and the woman's dedication to her very sick son.

Silently, Naomi listened while she drove, checking the rear-view mirror every now and then to make sure no cops were around to catch her speeding. As Rae went into detail about the little boy, her heart couldn't help but cave for him. "So what are you gonna do about it?" she asked, quickly glimpsing at her conflicted friend.

Rae sighed, looking out the window at the blurring trees. "I don't know." And that was the truth, she didn't know what she was going to do. "I just want to be there for him." She couldn't put her feelings into accurate words without sounding deranged, but simply put, she had this feeling, like she needed to see him.

Maybe it was guilt, knowing that his mother would be away from him for a time, or maybe it was because she could relate to him more than anyone else. As Mr. Harrigan– Mike had put it, Jamie had spent the majority of his short life in that hospital surrounded by sickness and death, if not the idea of it. It wasn't healthy for him. He deserved better. So maybe she was going to see if she was capable of helping.

Staring now at the overlapping and criss-crossing creases of her hands, she fisted them tightly watching the thin flesh around her knuckles turn white. Her abilities could make even the most gruesome wounds practically disappear, and heal bones that had snapped in half, but illness, disease? Was that possible to be healed? Or did her powers have a limit?

There was only one way to find out, but part of her worried about giving the family false hope, but it was worth trying. Lifting her chin, she replied confidently, "I want to try and heal him."

Naomi gave her a double-look, her eyes flickering back and forth from her to the road. "Can you?"

Rae swallowed down the spike of nerves that had risen with her doubt. "I don't know."

"Well either way, that's commendable given that his mom literally played a hand in your torture."

"Honestly," she admitted quietly, keeping her eyes ahead of her, "even my dad did some questionable things to save me. He gave a foreign and untested serum to his daughter and basically hoped for the best." Quickly she bit her tongue, angry with herself for even sounding remotely ungrateful. And Naomi picked up on it, having gone completely silent.

Never before had she heard Rae use this tone in reference to her father, and it rightfully concerned her. "But you were dying anyway, right? He probably thought it couldn't get worse. I mean, you were all he had left."

"Right," she dropped her eyes back down to her fisted hands that were beginning to glow.

Naomi had been quick to negate her comment, but despite the realness in her words, Rae couldn't refute the questions she had surrounding her miraculous recovery. Did her father really do it just to save her?

Maybe it was what Price had said that day back in the labs, someone she shouldn't even consider listening to, but she couldn't shake the doubts that were rising against her. Her father had kept a log of all his mysterious messages that she would have liked to think were meant for her ears only, but she knew better. There was still that unknown name she couldn't trace: Aurora. Why did anyone other than himself need to know of her recovery, unless there was something else he was secretly hoping to achieve?

It was at that moment that she realized their turn was coming up.

Carefully pulling off the road in an attempt to lessen the bumpy ride, Naomi went through the camouflage barrier and continued up the dirt driveway. She had sensed Rae's quiet pondering, which was almost never a good thing, prompting her to speak up again, hoping to steer her thoughts in a more positive direction. "You see him yet?"

That must have been the right question to ask because Rae sat ramrod straight, frantically looking out the window for any sign of Tomak. "God, I hope not," she breathed nervously, making Naomi smirk.

Her eyes wandered in the distance, before blinked wide, "Um, yeah, well I hate to break it to you," she trailed off, turning in time to see Rae's reaction at the sight of Tomak leaning against the deck's stairs.

He didn't even look like he had broken a sweat!

"Oh come on!" Rae slumped in her seat, almost hiding herself in the space beneath the glove compartment.

"Yeah, that's not going to help your cause," Naomi couldn't help but tease as she pulled up, putting the truck in park.

Burying her head in her arms, she let out a helpless little whine, "Ugh, kill me now."

Leaning back in her seat, Naomi stretched out with an unbothered smile. "You know I love you, but the chance of seeing Tomak take his revenge is too good to pass up," she chuckled, receiving a dirty look from below.

Her heart spiked in an uncomfortably exhilarating way, her mind running ten to the dozen thinking about all the different ways Tomak would exact his punishment. She knew it, she knew not to challenge him to a bet, and yet what did she do?!

Embarrassed and angry more than anything she cursed. "If anything it should be me getting revenge on him, not the other way around!" Just the thought of strutting around with that skimpy bikini on was enough to make her consider hunkering down in the truck for the remainder of the day. Why did she always put herself in these situations? Why couldn't she have passed up the bet and made it out to be a simplistic game? "Do you think he'll forget all about the bet?" she groaned, already knowing the answer.

"Given that he looks way too smug, I'm leaning towards no," Naomi tried hard to hold back a grin, but her tone of voice was anything but sympathetic.

Peaking over the dash to confirm it for herself, Rae shrunk back down at instantly meeting Tomak's glimmering eyes. "Dammit!" Having grown a pair with her sudden rush of adrenaline, she shoved the car door open and hopped out of the truck, ignoring Naomi's loud snickering as she followed at a distance.

Immediately upon seeing Tomak she noted his preening size, standing tall and proud, his shoulders back, chin up. He was more than pleased with himself and that just made her more sour.

"How did you get here so fast?! I should have won that!" The last bit came out a little more sullen than she would have liked, but she ticked her head up regardless, bracing herself for the onslaught of male arrogance that would befall her.

And did it.

Cocking his head briefly and subtly adjusting his impressively rigid posture into something she found irresistibly inviting, he studied her with that annoying glint in his honey gold eyes.

She loved and loathed that look, and it conflicted her. She didn't know if she should be miffed or thrilled she lost. But as he spoke his next words, she wholeheartedly decided to linger on the former.

"And you were so confident," he mocked knowingly, as if he knew all along he would win.

"Well yeah!" she blurted out, waving at the truck that had over five-hundred horsepower. "There is no way you could outrun that!"

He chuckled, shifting his weight. Before she could react, his arm shot out, hooking around her waist and hauling her into him. Her hands had come up just in time to prevent him from pressing her to his front. That didn't deter him though as he bent forward, almost tucking his face into the crook of her neck.

She shivered and tensed over the control he had over her body before he turned his mouth toward her ear, drawing out another unwanted shiver as his warm breath fanned over the sensitive area.

"Admit it gorgeous," he hummed delectably, "admit your defeat."

Her head swirled at his tone of voice that made her want to, but her stubbornness flared up in outrage that he thought he could get away with this. "I will not–" but he didn't give her a chance to finish.

The long fingers at her side, thrummed with familiarity over her side, a quick ticklish warning that had her arching her chest into his.

"Tomak!" she squawked, tensing hard under his hold.

"Will you submit now?"

Damn him!

"Yeah, submit Rae!" Naomi called after her, her smile large and teasing, enjoying the interaction a little too much.

She thought Tomak would grow irate with Naomi's presence, but her response perfectly lined up his next retort, adding fuel to his never-ending fire. "Your friend has good sense, do you?"

If he didn't have her turned to his chest, she would have shot Naomi a nasty scowl, but with limited options and an all too eager audience, she was left with no choice. "Fine," she spat the word, angry and embarrassed. "You gonna let me go now?"

He hesitated, lingering just long enough to make her pulse quicken, before dropping his arms.

Despite his actions, Rae had felt the tension in his arms. It was a warning sign blaring for her to watch her tone. She knew she hadn't submitted the way he wanted, but she deserved to be annoyed. Maybe he didn't press for more because Naomi was watching. And that thought suddenly became prominent in her mind as her friend neared them, all while Tomak's nearness slightly faded as he took a step back from her.

She wondered then if public display of affection was frowned upon in yautja culture. It would certainly make sense being that Tomak seemed to bury and shun his own emotions. It had taken much time and overlaid trust before he even began opening himself up to her in private. Publicly may be foreign and uncomfortable for him.

She didn't want to push, but she wanted to know.

Clearing her throat, Naomi presented the briefcase from before, handing it off to Rae, which did wonders in breaking the awkward silence that had sprouted between them. "Didn't want you to forget it in the truck," she explained quickly, darted her eyes to Tomak briefly at seeing his diverted attention now on the object of question.

Taking it gratefully, Rae turned to Tomak with a somber expression. "Mr. Harrigan brought this with him. It contains several vials of blood that survived the lab. Majority is yautja blood, I was hoping you would know what to do with them," she held out the case to him.

Dwarfing it in his large clawed hands, Tomak held the case firmly, his eyes staring at it with a potency before lifting his gaze to her. "I will store it on the ship to be disposed of later."

She nodded, agreeing with him.

"Pack whatever you wish to bring with us," he purred, the sound light and encouraging, not pushy or demanding. He probably knew how difficult this would be for her, and she appreciated that he was understanding of that. "I will be back to help you."

There were few words shared between the girls as they entered the house, Naomi offering to help her with the process.

Rae took out a suitcase she had packed years ago from under her bed. Unzipping it, she went through the contents of her go-bag, catching a glimpse of Naomi's face as she dumped the survival food packs on the floor.

"I guess you were always prepared to be on the run, huh?" she looked at her sadly, helping her make room in her bag for other essentials. "What do you want put in here?"

"Clothes, undergarments especially. I already have a toothbrush in here and soap. Can you grab my comb and moisturizer from the bathroom? Oh and my phone charger!"

"Sure thing!"

As she left to collect them, Rae got down on her knees and felt further under the bed, her fingers grasping the musty cardboard box. It contained all the USB drives, but there was plenty of space for more. Running out to the living room she went to the far wall where the picture frame hung of her father and her. Reverently lifting it off the nail it hung from, she stared at her father pictured in it for a long moment.

The wind had been blowing at the time of the picture, which had her hair blown to the side, and his ruffled a bit. He looked so happy despite how tired she knew he was. His head was tilted down slightly in her direction, his vivid green eyes meeting the camera lens. It was like a hand had fisted her heart and squeezed.

How dare she question her father. He did everything to love and protect her. What did it matter what the video logs were for, he had his reasons, and she had to trust that. She wouldn't hesitate to look into it further if she could, but didn't want to consider her father having ulterior motives. She was the motive, he made that clear to her day and night.

Tracing her thumb lightly over his face, she breathed a sad sigh. "I don't know the exact words you would say, but I'm going away to get that life you wanted me to have." She paused, smiling, "Yes, I know. About time, right?" Her eyes locked onto his, her chest constricting painfully with her sorrow. "I just wish you could be here to see me, to meet Tomak." Hugging the picture frame to her chest, she exhaled, cutting her tears short. "I hope you're proud of my decision."

"He is."

Rae spun around to see Naomi leaning against her bedroom's door frame. "You've never met him," she objected, scoffing lightly and missing her soft smile.

"Yeah well, if he's anything like you then I have a pretty good idea."

Cradling the picture to her chest, Rae brought it into the bedroom, placing it in the musty box with the drives.

It really didn't take long to pack. She lived a very simple life with few possessions that really meant something to her. And after zipping up what contained the story of her life, she turned to Naomi who had gone unusually quiet, her eyes cast to the ground.

"Naomi?" she gingerly approached her. "What's wrong?"

Taking her arm, she pulled her gently, getting her to meet her eyes and that's when she saw the tears.

Her dark eyes shifted away from hers as she sniffed forcefully, wiping her eyes roughly with her sleeve, "I'm sorry. I didn't want to do this in front of you."

Frowning in confusion, she faced her fully, almost about to take her by the shoulders, "Naomi-"

"I'm happy you're making this choice to go," she stopped her. Fighting for control over her trembling voice she quietly admitted, "But there's this selfish part of me that wants you to stay. You're my best friend, Rae. I..." she breathed deeply, "I don't want to lose you." Against her attempts to keep them at bay, unwelcomed tears began to flow freely down her sloped cheeks. "I'm sorry," she croaked, trying to hide her face as if it was shameful.

But Rae instantly reacted, wrapping her arms around her and pulling her into a tight hug. "Don't you dare apologize. The thought of not seeing you pains me so much. I'm trying not to think about it, but you're making that very hard," she choked up, taking deep breaths to suppress the emotions surging through like flood water. She had to be quiet for a good long minute before she knew she was strong enough to speak without her voice shaking. And when she felt she could, she answered gently, "I'm going to miss you. So much."

Naomi's arms squeezed her tighter in comfort. "You're not going to forget me, right?"

A smile full of trouble crept over her face, washing away the gloom. "Pfft, I wish I could," she chuckled impishly.

That got Naomi joining in with her own lively laugh, shoving her away with rough playfulness. Rae was surprised she didn't punch her in the arm, but she was thankful for it, remembering her injuries, perhaps Naomi did too because she eased a bit, shaking her head softly with a 'tsk.' "You better give those aliens something to remember while you're up there. I don't want you to come back and I hear that you hid that side of yourself."

Rae snorted, shuffling her feet, "I don't think openly insulting the yautja is the most responsible decision."

She scoffed, "Since when are you responsible?" She grinned wide at Rae's unimpressed stare. "You know I'm kidding! And you're also dodging what I'm saying," she drawled, squaring her shoulders insistently. "Be yourself."

She was being completely honest-hearted and Rae felt the sincerity through her words.

"I really mean it, Rae. Let them see you, not a facade, not someone that's invisible, the real, authentic you."

An explosion of positivity bloomed in her chest, secretly touched by her open-hearted expressions. Naomi knew her too well. She knew she would be nervous and would likely resort to either of those boxes if she wasn't careful, but she would try. "Okay," she agreed.

"Good. When you come back, I want to hear all about your stories down to the littlest of details." Then she paused as if realizing and now suddenly second-guessing herself, "You are coming back, right?"

Rae didn't even let her ponder on that thought. "Of course I am," she looked at her solemnly in promise. "I swear, I'll be coming back to visit."

"You better," she aimed a cautionary side-eye. "Or I'm gonna have some words with big, tall, and crabby," making Rae laugh.

Stepping forth, she shooed her away to grab the bag herself while Rae gently picked up the box. She was thankful for Naomi's assistance as they worked in tandem to carry it all out into the bright living space where Tomak was now presently standing.

Seeing him, Naomi with great care put the luggage down and sniffed insistently, wiping her face of any evidence of their shared tears. "I um, I think I need some fresh air. I'll be right back," she excused herself, brushing past Tomak as she beelined it for the outdoors, leaving the two of them alone.

Unaware of what just occurred between them, Tomak followed Naomi out with his eyes before looking to her for answers.

Rae shrugged, quietly admitting, "It's hard to say goodbye."

He grunted, accepting this answer. It made her smirk when she realized he was likely brushing this off as a weird emotional human thing, not even contemplating it before moving on to what he found more pressing, his stare wandering down to the go-bag and cardboard box.

"Is this it?" he questioned, and she nodded.

He stepped forth to take the large bag, but Rae decided to use this time while they were alone to get the itch that was set on getting scratched.

"Are you really going to keep me in anxious suspense?"

Tomak tilted his head, silently demanding more context.

"The bet," she clarified, rolling her eyes upon seeing his self-satisfied grin. "What is it you want this time? And no bikini!" she hissed. It would not be up for discussion.

"No bikini?" he chuckled, making her wonder what was so funny, until she got it.

"Don't you dare make me walk around naked!" her eyes darted to the door, making sure Naomi wasn't near to hear this. "So out with it. What do you want from me?"

Tomak chortled at her reaction, his clawed hand reaching out to cup her chin all while he crowded her with his massive body. Leaning over her, she batted her eyes as his long locs spilled over his shoulders between them. "Do you really wish to know with your friend lingering close by?" he whispered huskily in her ear, eliciting unwanted tingles down the curvature of her spine.

Sucking in a sharp breath, Rae's eyes shot up to his. He wasn't referring to what she was thinking he was referring to, right? It couldn't be sex, he wanted to wait until she was ready. So what the hell was he suggesting?

Then the door opened, and Tomak reluctantly stepped back, taking the box under one arm and lifting the bag to rest over his wide shoulder. "We will discuss this later," he purred, taking her belongings outside.

Rae was about to follow him, when someone pressed up against her leg. "Oh Chase," she got down, picking the beloved cat up.

"Mraa!" he purred, hugging himself to her front.

Laughing softly at the adorable sight, Naomi reached out to stroke his soft little head, getting him to purr louder. "Are you bringing Chase with you?"

That was a good question. And she hadn't even considered it!

Hugging Chase tighter to her chest, she brushed her fingers down his gray fur soothingly. Could she even take him? Would it be safe? She briefly recalled Tomak's initial response to Chase when he first arrived. He had thought of him as a pest. Would he really be safe amongst an entire planet of them? Would the planet house any dangerous animals that could potentially see him as an easy meal?

She clutched him tighter as her thoughts darkened, but Naomi pulled her out of it as she stared at her phone's screen.

"By the way, I just got a text from my gramps. He says he has everything prepared for you whenever you're ready."

"What?" she blinked, tugging her own phone out to see the time. "It's been maybe an hour since we talked and he already has arrangements set up?" She couldn't believe it.

A small smirk played over her lips as she folded her arms, jutting her hip out. "Well he is an Admiral, he can be very persuasive." She looked at her as if it were obvious, and it honestly should have been.

She should have been elated by the news, but there was a stagger in her steps. If everything was ready for her down there, it only meant her departure would be that much sooner. Her life and everything she knew would forever be changed. It was inevitable. Time was unmatched. With every passing minute, every fleeting second, she got closer to that final goodbye to the only home she ever knew.

"Hey," Naomi looked at her with sad soft eyes, patting her back gently, "I feel it too, but the more time we spend thinking about it, the more time we lose together."

She nodded, suddenly finding herself at a loss for words.

"Come on," Naomi nudged, "let's go outside and get some fresh air, it's warming up."

And she had been right, the sun was at its highest peak and it had warmed considerably since the morning. Chase must have felt the change too, because he nuzzled into her, the flat of his head pressed comfortably under her chin.

Walking down the stairs to the beach front, Rae stared ahead at the enormous ship, and Tomak who was just now departing from it. He looked at home, coming from it, oozing with a confidence she felt he had lost with his ship. He was excited to return, she could sense that, but she didn't know all the details of what that meant for her.

His eyes connected with hers as he sauntered toward them. He didn't let up the eye contact even as he neared Naomi, and it put her on notice that she was being appraised. Sometimes he was able read things in her gaze that she had yet to be able to read in his, and that scared her.

She didn't like to think that she could be easily read, she preferred having a wall up just in case, but now standing a foot away from her large yautja and breathing in his commanding aura, she swiftly remembered the agreement that they came to a couple nights previous.

Do not even attempt to hide from me. I expect you to come to me from now on when you are like this. Understand?

Meeting his warm, beautiful eyes now, she released a breath in silent acknowledgement. She would talk to him about this, but not now, and certainly not in front of Naomi, when they were alone, and when his patience bar was full.

"Promise me one thing, crabs," Naomi's voice suddenly cut through the heart of Rae's turmoil, pulling her back to the present.

Standing firm against Tomak's displeased growl, she looked at him with eyes not of mischievous delight, or nervous anticipation, but determination and candor.

Recognizing her serious regard, Rae peeked up at Tomak.

There was intrigue in his eyes even despite the terse rigidness of his mandibles that were locked in a half or slight-flare. Full-flare signified anger or outrage, but the semi-flare, which she had seen time and again, usually correlated with a cautious reflection. He was waiting for her to carry on, which she did.

"Promise you'll take care of Rae, and protect her," she looked at him pointedly, no question or weakness in her tone, she was dead straight. "She's my best friend," she added, the meaning lingering in the air between them.

There was a moment of contemplative silence before both of them heard his throaty trill. He then unexpectedly rapped one of his large fists against his chest creating a loud meaty thud followed by a dip of his head, an honoring gesture if she'd ever seen one.

When his head rose, his spines falling back into place, he replied confidently, "She will be well looked after and I will protect her with my life. I am honorbound to this."

Nodding thoughtfully, Naomi accepted his pledge.

It touched Rae, and apparently it did something for Tomak as well because he looked at her and for the first time, said her name.

"Naomi," it had her rooted in place as she stared up at him wide-eyed. "For your continued dedication to my female and attentiveness to her wellness, I will honor you just as your kin was honored."

She blinked rapidly, before it really clicked, "Wait, really?!"

He nodded, taking out a ring from one of his spines he extended it toward her awaiting hands.

Letting out an awed breath, she ran her thumb curiously over the foreign writing. "What does it say?"

"Loyal," he answered simply.

Her head tilted then as she considered what this meant. "So your people award humans that impress them?" she frowned, trying to understand the significance of this moment.

"No," he growled, sounding offended by her poor approximation. "Not an award," he corrected, "I am honoring you. You are yin'tekai yeka now, honored prey. It means you are untouchable, no one can claim your skull."

Rolling the ring around in her hand she smiled charmingly, "Well isn't that a relief."

"Honored," Rae muttered, thinking it over. Then it came to her. "You mean like what you were going to do with me?"

This captured Naomi's attention completely and astutely she was looking back and forth between Tomak and herself, hoping to get some juicy details.

Tomak turned to Rae then with a low sound, remembering that day well.

Her hands clenched at her sides when she suddenly had his unwavering attention. "You said the only way for me to be left alone was if you marked me!"

A gasp rang out from the third party which neither Tomak nor Rae addressed. She wasn't finished.

"You didn't say anything about gifting me something," she eyed him accusingly.

Snorting in amusement, Tomak lifted his mandibles as he looked down at her with mischief.

She smacked his chest then, hating how much she loved his chuckling laughter. He could get away with a lot, too much, and she wasn't about to admit it.

Narrowing his eyes further in playful warning, he leaned in close, dropping his voice to a barely audible purr, his eyes shining cleverly. "Perhaps," he husked in her ear, sending a line of chills shuddering down her spine, throwing her senses off balance before he finished his thought quietly. "Perhaps I should mark you later as my prize."

He was prepared for the strike, catching her wrist before she even made contact with his chest, the speed and control he had, as well as the gentle intelligence playing behind his eyes and words almost made her woozy.

He was quick to pull away then, but not before Naomi caught on and gave Rae a smug look.

Rae stared at her pointedly, unamused. "Drop it."

Still wearing that stupid grin, she played fair and didn't bring it up, her attention once again fixed to her gift. "You know, I was thinking about wearing rings on my fingers," she slipped Tomak's gift over her thumb. "This shall be the first. Thank you," she dipped her head formally in imitation of his earlier acknowledgement. Then, not a second later, she stood erect, looking like a lost mortified soul. "Wait that's not considered offensive if I do it back, right?" she stared at him desperate for an answer.

Just the humor of the situation from Naomi's fumble to Tomak's blank blinking expression had her laughing hard enough to get a complaint out of Chase.

Gruffly, the big guy gave a single stiff nod, slowly pivoting away from Naomi's concerned gaze to Rae's hysterical laughter.

"What?!" Naomi demanded, reaching over to smack her arm, "I didn't want to offend him!"

"No, but your face was just... perfection," she snickered back,

Sighing heavily with their antics, Tomak waited impatiently until Rae had gotten ahold of herself, before he nudged her side encouragingly, urging her to meet his piercing gaze.

"Are you ready?" was what she heard next.

His playfulness and humor had run out and he wanted to move on, which quickly and easily put a damper on her mood, her hand smoothing over Chase's coat in a comforting gesture. She was then painfully reminded of the decision she would now have to make regarding her furry friend, and her heart clenched anxiously.

"You want to get going?" she asked tentatively, wanting to make sure she understood him correctly.

He rumbled rhythmically, taking a closer step toward his ship, as if words wouldn't be translation enough.

Nodding reluctantly, she slowly pivoted to Naomi. So much had already been said between them, their eyes now a reflection of those heartfelt emotions. But it was Naomi's small encouraging smile and nudge that gave her the strength to move forward with her final decision.

She had thought long and hard about what she was going to do with Chase, weighing in the risks and the benefits of bringing him along, but all the unknowns did not bode well for his future.

Taking a deep breath, she addressed him directly, combing her fingers through his fur coat. "Chase? Tomak and I are going to be leaving Earth for a while, and although I would love to take you with me, I'm not sure space is the safest place for you. There are too many unknown factors for me to risk bringing you along."

He purred loudly against her neck, having no clue what she was saying, only sensing her deep-rooted sadness and its mystifying relationship to him. "Mraa!"

"Yeah I know," she cooed. "That's why I want to leave you with someone I trust, someone that will take care of you." She met her best friend's eyes, "Naomi could you–"

"Yes, of course," she didn't even hesitate and it filled her chest with great relief.

Turning her face to nuzzle into him, she hugged him tight, "I'm gonna miss you buddy."

Prompted to, Naomi reached out to take Chase from her, trying to adjust him to hug her front just like he had done with Rae. The cat however, was not having any of it, his green eyes turning back to Rae with unease. He was demanding more of her touch than the friendly stranger's.

"Mraa!" he practically yowled.

"Shhh," she hushed gently, reaching out to stroke his head again, silencing his angry cry. "I want you safe, but like I told Naomi, I'll be back. Promise," she met her friend's eyes then who returned her look with a wet smile and a nod.

"I'll do my very best to take care of him."

"Thank you." She peered over to Tomak who was silently watching the whole scene from afar, and directed with her head for him to come closer.

"Did you want to say goodbye to Chase before we go?" It wasn't really a question, and he seemed to get that, especially when she elbowed him, pointedly gesturing to Chase. Her smile widened when he huffed, folding his arms as he unwillingly looked down at the feline that was staring back at him with bright green eyes.

Knowing what she wanted, he begrudgingly reached out and skimmed his claws over the rise of the feline's head feeling uncomfortable as it closed its eyes and bumped its head harder into his outstretched hand, getting the girls to coo in delight at the adorable sight.

His chest swelled as his temper flickered dangerously, not at all impressed with their reactions, and immediately he retracted his arm, growling with narrowed eyes. He had a reputation to keep and the little pest was not helping any. Running his hand down Rae's arm as a way to calm himself, and inform her of his departure, he made his leave, walking away in the direction of the ship.

Having not expected that, Rae blinked getting the impression that his anger was fast incoming and that he didn't find the situation as funny they did. Watching him go, she sighed, turning her eyes back down to the gray tabby cat in her friend's arms, she smiled, "He's going to miss you too," she explained supportively, flicking her eyes up to Naomi briefly when she snorted.

Chase, seeing that he had her attention, perked up, slinking his body and extending his neck toward her. "Mraa!" He was telling her exactly what he wanted, to be back in her arms again.

Smiling sadly, she did the best she could by leaning in close and placing a tender kiss upon his soft little head, managing to feel his purr one last time. "Bye buddy," she whispered, scratching behind his ears just the way he loved. "I love you so much."

Naomi replaced Rae's touch with her own around the needy kitty's chin, and hiked him higher into her arms to get a more secure hold. "Chase and I will stick around here," Naomi informed her reassuringly. "Someone's gotta look after it while you're gone."

She beamed at the news, going in for a final hug. "You're the best," she breathed.

Naomi grinned at that, returning the hug. "I know," she didn't feign modesty. "Now hurry up and get going, your man is getting antsy," she giggled, motioning behind her with an amused look.

Rae followed her gaze to see Tomak standing at the top of the ramp waiting for her.

It was time to go. Gracing Naomi with an indebted smile, she pulled away and walked toward the alien ship.

As she went, she let her senses soak in the beach and everything it had offered in her stay here. The tranquility of slowly inhaling the fresh salty air floated like a pleasant haze in her head. And adding to the smell was the sound of the consistent crashing waves that seemed to match the cool breeze that flitted through. She felt at home here and she always would. Looking down at her feet, she dug her toes purposefully under the warm gritty blanket of golden sand, wondering if the sand of other worlds would feel as heavenly as this.

Looking out to the distant horizon where the ocean met the sky, she took a mental picture of the beauty of it all. This was how she wanted to remember her home, her place of refuge.

Pushing herself to keep going, she padded gently through the sand until her toes met the hard unforgiving surface of the ramp. It surprised her that it wasn't scorching hot from being under the sun's harsh rays, but she was thankful. She didn't exactly want to run as if she were being burned by hot coals, she wanted to absorb this last moment and remember every perfect detail.

Paused at the bottom of the ramp, Rae turned to look back at Naomi and Chase, her heart throbbing incessantly within her ribcage, her eyes stinging with unshed tears.

She was so engrossed in the image of everything that laid close to her heart, she hadn't heard Tomak walk down the ramp, until his large warm hand rested on her shoulder.

She swiftly looked up at him then, noting how gentle and attentive he was being, as he reached up to caress her cheek.

"Are you sure?" he trilled, the sound neither questioning nor judgmental, he was being sincere.

Fluttering her eyes closed, she leaned into his touch, enjoying the smooth sensation of his palm before peering back up at him with soft penetrating eyes. "Yes, but," she hesitated, hoping he would agree to it, "can we make one stop before we leave?"

He tipped her chin up with his knuckle, a flirtatious purr emanating from his chest. "You need not ask, gorgeous."

She let out a soft breathy sound at his touch, a tinge of embarrassment lighting her cheeks at her reaction.

His actions and words had a profound effect on her once steady pulse and for a dreadful moment she hoped he wouldn't say anything further. She felt too tongue tied to give a proper response and somehow deep down she felt that he knew what he was doing. His tilted smirk and goading eyes said it all and it was beginning to make her perspire.

God, how does he do that?

At least having the decency to take a step back, allowing her more air to breathe, he gestured for her to follow him up the ramp and further inside the ship.

Turning ever so gracefully on the balls of her feet she looked behind her to the sight of Naomi holding Chase to her chest. She smiled, her eyes looking up and down the stretch of beach that she had for so many years called home and then back to her best friend.

Lifting an arm, Naomi waved at her, which Rae returned. One final goodbye, before she backed into the cargo bay, the ramp receding and rising into the confines of the ship until her view was completely blocked off.

Staring at the wall that was now before her, she sighed, her hands balling tightly into fists and her teeth biting none too gently into her lip. There was clicking and the sound of a soft purr behind her, making her turn to see Tomak's gentle expression. He knew this was hard for her.

Extending his hand toward her, he motioned for her to come with him.

Allowing a soft smile, she listened, following his lead. Eventually they made their way into the cockpit, and Rae obeyed his silent request for her to take a seat in what she could only assume was likened to the co-pilot's chair.

Taking the pilot's seat beside her, Tomak comfortably began activating the touch-screen panel that lit up with red and blue symbols that swiftly caught her attention. She watched in open amazement as he seamlessly pressed several buttons in quick succession. The sound of his black claws clicking along the surface of the panel was only drowned out by the different high-pitched chimes that were emitted from each tab he pressed.

With all that he had done in the matter of seconds, she curiously wondered what it was he was commanding the ship to do, only to hear the vessel rumble to life. The very vibrations from its powerful engines shook her in her seat, its warm humming reverberating all around and under her, filling her with immense excitement.

Tomak turned his chair expectantly toward her then, his eyes flashing his own curiosity. He didn't have to speak for her to know what he was asking.

"Ohio," she answered him softly, her confidence growing as she held his intense amber gaze, "We need to go back to Ohio."

---

Author's Note

Sorry this took so long to get out, been busy with work. Fear not though, the next chapter should not take as long to post. Thanks for reading!